


Devour What's Truely Yours

by ChibiTabatha



Series: Consumed [14]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Biting, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Familiars, First Kiss, First Time, Frottage, Gen, Graphic Description of Infection, Horror, M/M, Magic, Marking, Monsterfucker!Rhett, Mutual Pining, Pining, Wendigo, Wendigo!Link, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:34:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25061674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiTabatha/pseuds/ChibiTabatha
Summary: Rhett's gotten over his injury, so things should be looking up right? Wrong. Something is wrong, very wrong.
Relationships: Link Neal & Barbara McLaughlin, Link Neal & Original Female Character(s), Rhett McLaughlin & Barbara McLaughin, Rhett McLaughlin & Original Female Character(s), Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Series: Consumed [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1521062
Comments: 69
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Welcome back to some more of your creepy-spooky out of season horror nonsense.

Rhett thumbed the wooden token in his hand. After what felt like an eternity, but was really only two whole weeks, he was back to normal. Walking around his house on his own. Taking Barbara outside to play in the snow. Driving into town where people would stare as if they had seen a ghost.  
  
Maybe they had, he still wasn't sure if what he had experienced was real or not. If he was still among the living, or in some sort of bizarre purgatory. Only time could tell really, or God, maybe even Satan. Really, he wasn't too sure.  
  
But the witch's words lingered with him, the price for the token was the truth. He had time to look into his own heart and dislike everything he found in it. Yet the thought didn't resonate with what she had said.  
  
Although honestly he couldn't remember word for word what she had said, he knew he had to seek the truth with his own mouth? Or something along those lines.  
  
His own lips formed a thin line, seeking the truth with his own mouth could mean one of two things. Talking to Link, or attempting to kiss him. With the way Link had spoken of Oak, he thought the answer would be a kiss.  
  
He wasn't so sure about that anymore though. Especially since the wendigo seemed to vanish into thin air.  
  
Rhett sighed and let his head thunk against the steering wheel before he got out of the vehicle.

* * *

The early mornings were cold and dark, but Rhett got out of bed despite the chill that seemed to sink into his cabin through the windows. Gathering his robe more tightly around him, pulling a second pair of socks on before heading to the door to let his baby out into the snow.  
  
Barbara was as happy as ever to jump into the snow from the porch, her small body taking flight. The blond couldn't help the fond chuckle. "Barbara!" he called out into the crisp air.  
  
Movement caught his eye, but his dog seemed as content as ever. The canine hardly even blinked before bounding through the snow drifts towards the dark figure.  
  
Rhett could hardly make out the dark figure stooping down to pat his dog. Link. It had to be.  
  
"Link?"  
  
The figure seemed to jolt at the sound of the blond's call, quickly retreating into the forest without so much as a whisper. Nor did Rhett see the familiar flash of blue eyes from the treeline. Rhett's face pulled into a frown. This wasn't like the creature he knew.  
  
Before he could contemplate getting his winter gear on and getting a flashlight, Barbara bounded up the steps to bark and dance at his feet.  
  
A flash of red on her fur had the blond's heart stuttering to a stop in his chest. Blood.  
  
Rhett crouched down to gently ease his hands over the small animal, gently pressing and probing, ensuring there were no injuries to his baby.  
  
With no sign of injury, Rhett's heart sank into his stomach.

* * *

With the rising of the sun, came the strength of the human's curiosity. Pulling on his winter gear and grabbing his rifle, he opened the door.  
  
Fog curled around his property, obscuring his truck, the trees. Just about everything was a sheet of misty gray, with indiscernible black shapes behind it.  
  
"Fuck."  
  
It would be suicide to go out into the woods with the fog so thick. Turning his porch light on, he figured, the least he can do is check the edges of his property.  
  
He white-knuckled the rifle as he headed towards the treeline. An approximation of where he thought he saw Link on the edge of the forest. The silence was oppressive and the fog seemed to thicken the air around him. Choking him in its entirety.  
  
Rhett wandered the edge of the treeline, keeping the soft glow of his porchlight in-sight at all times. Nothing stood out to him in the snow. No odd footprints. No blood. Nothing.  
  
The soft glow of the light cut out, his heart raced in his chest. Turning towards his home he heard Barbara bark, yowl, then whimper.  
  
Rhett raced across the snow towards his girl, readying the gun as he went. He would not be caught with his pants around his ankles as it were.  
  
The door was blown off its hinges, laying on the threshold of his home. Barbara was to the side of the patio, laying in a pile of snow and ice. Crouching down he gently reached for her, her nose nudged into his hand weakly.  
  
Rhett scooped up his baby girl, there was no way he was going to be able to hold onto her and aim the gun. The blond shook his head, he could hear something moving around inside his house and he could feel the fingers of fear wrapping around his throat and heart, squeezing.  
  
Rhett pulled the small wooden coin out of his pocket, pressed it and Barbara against his chest. His other hand still gripping a weapon he wasn't sure would save him.  
  
Getting his shaking legs under him was harder than he thought it would be. But he had to run.  
  
Whatever was in the house heard him break through the tree line. Something scrambled along the wood of the porch and crashed through the snow.  
  
Air punched out of lungs as the tall man tried to navigate the trees hidden by the fog.  
  
He clipped one, and found himself sprawled in the snow. Clinging to his dog and praying that the wooden charm would be able to help him somehow.  
  
Pain exploded behind Rhett's eyelids before he could feel his body sliding through the snow, cold heat shooting up his leg.  
  
"How is it you always seem to get into trouble?"  
  
The witch's familiar voice soothed him immediately. Even with her calming presence blackness clung to his vision. He wasn't sure if his eyes were open or closed.  
  
The pain in his leg sharpened again, then he heard a clap and the pain dulled dramatically.  
  
"He's not going to be happy about this..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be updating this on Saturdays, but if you want to talk to me about horror things come yell at me on [tumblr](https://chibitabathasloves.tumblr.com/)! Or if you want to say hello, that's okay too. 
> 
> I'll be seeing you all on Saturday! Also keep your eyes peeled for an update for Good Mythical Mute on Wednesdays too!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to your weekly update!
> 
> Bad news: I haven't written the next chapter yet.
> 
> Good news! I wrote an outline for once in my mortal life and I have all of today off and worse comes to worse, I'll write it on Friday before I post it at 1am in the morning like a lunatic.
> 
> Enjoy!

When Rhett opened his eyes, he was relieved to see the muted earth tones of the witch's guest room. Under his hand was the warm body of his dog, her breaths soft and even.  
  
Turning his head he even saw Smoky sitting by the bed, golden eyes staring him down.  
  
"I know, I didn't want to be back so soon either."  
  
"Then maybe you should go back home. Wherever that might be."  
  
The blond turned towards the door. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, you're not from around here. No one manages to stay in that cabin alive this long. Go home, Rhett. If you want to live, it's for the best." The woman breezed into the room, hands fluttering over the blond's injured leg.  
  
The dull screaming pain seemed to ebb away under the odd dance of Oak's fingers. "I don't want to leave."  
  
"Then move into town, or something. Something. Just get out of that cabin."  
  
Rhett turned towards the judgemental gaze of the familiar. "I don't want to leave him behind."  
  
Oak groaned low in her throat, "You can't be serious."  
  
Rhett turned his green gaze towards the mismatched gaze of the magical being next to him. He didn't say anything, but the witch clearly could see it all in his gaze. "You're insane."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
The witch groaned again before turning away from him in a swish of fabric, skirt rustling around her. "Stay put. You need to rest, and I need to speak with Link and the others."  
  
"Others?" He echoed back softly.  
  
"My coven, of course. Don't worry. You are safe in here."  
  
"What was it?"  
  
"Don't worry about that right now, just rest. You and Barbara could use it."  
  
Rhett hummed softly, even as the witch spirited herself away.

* * *

Barbara was well behaved when she woke from her magically induced slumber. She stayed on the bed, and didn't even make a sound at the cat sitting on the side table. The one time Barbara had seen a cat before hand, she'd lost her shit. She'd barked like crazy, and Rhett had to remove himself and Barbara from the area.  
  
Smoky didn't even really pay attention to either the human or the dog, instead keeping an eye on the open doorway. Somehow that was more unsettling than the judgemental gaze he had gotten much earlier.  
  
The light of the room hardly made a dent in the darkness of the hallway. It caused tendrils of unease to wrap around him, especially after whatever was in his cabin had chased him through the fog filled forest.  
  
Rhett tried to sit up and his shoulder twinged in pain and burning agony lanced across his leg, leaving him groaning in bed.  
  
"This is bullshit."  
  
Neither animal deigned him with a response.

* * *

Whatever had been in his home had decided to bite him, or that was what he speculated as he looked at his bandaged leg. His shoulder hurt from where he had hit the tree while running, but the pain of moving bloomed in his other shoulder from where he hit the frozen ground shielding Barbara.  
  
Any time Rhett reached for the edge of his bandages, Smoky would hiss at him and bat at his hand.  
  
"Look, I just want to see," he knew he sounded insane, pleading with a cat. "It hurts real bad, and I just want to look."  
  
Another sharp hiss from the white cat has the blond feeling admonished. Leaning back against his pillows, as the cat curls back up on the bed to watch the door.  
  
Rhett doesn't know how long it's been, if it has been thirty minutes, or several hours since he last saw Oak.  
  
Falling deeper against the pillows, Rhett closes his eyes.

* * *

"What do you mean?" He awoke to the sound of Link hissing in the hall.  
  
"I don't know where it went." Oak didn't seem to inflect any emotion into her sentence.  
  
An angry huff. "You're the goddamned protector of this fucking forest, Oak. How did you lose it?"  
  
"If it's not on my land, I can't exactly know where it is, can I?"  
  
There was a tense silence, even Rhett didn't want to call out to them to interrupt lest he get caught in the crossfire. "What did the coven say?"  
  
"It may be hiding in town. Could be someone who has gone rogue. Can't know for certain." Oak whisked around the corner of the door. "Ah, Rhett, how are we feeling?"  
  
"A lady told me the land was cursed," the words that tumbled from his lips weren't to the question she asked.  
  
"I see. Was she talking about Link?" The witch motioned towards the wendigo standing in the door.  
  
"I thought she was, but now I don't know." Rhett shook his head. "I don't even know her name. But she also wanted me to move."  
  
"Unsurprising. Your house falls on a ley line." Oak began to remove the wrappings on his leg.  
  
"Ley line? Like the new age garbage that says places are connected by invisible lines?"  
  
"More like a natural well-spring of magic," the witch hummed noncommittally as she inspected the bandage.  
  
"So I live on a magic hot spring?"  
  
Link finally stepped into the room, scooping up Barbra to hold against his chest. "Not quite. Witches use it to strengthen their magic, do things outside their strengths and abilities. Creatures like me, like to live on them as it brings a sense of calm. It feels like home."  
  
"This cottage is on several overlapping ley lines. It's how I keep the place looking fantastical. Like something out of a fairytale." Oak's nose wrinkled and her brow furrowed.  
  
"Oak, I thought you said you healed him!"  
  
Link's pitch made Rhett's heart pound in his throat. Shoving himself up from the soft pillows, despite the screaming protest in his shoulder, he looked at the wounds on his leg. The skin around the bite mark on his ankle was bright angry red, a black tar-like substance building up in the open part of the wound. He also had five, very angry, claw marks gouged into his leg. Purple and yellow something was oozing from them, and Rhett swallowed audibly.  
  
"I did."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh me, oh my! Rhett's a bit banged up huh? I'm sure it'll be fine. Also: Sorry, not sorry for the cliff hanger! Love you!
> 
> Lemme hear your thoughts, here or on [tumblr](https://chibitabathasloves.tumblr.com/)!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember kids. If you bite it, and you get sick, it's poisonous. If it bites you, and you get sick, it's venomous.
> 
> I may have forgotten that while writing this. RIP my memory and thanks to my editing skillz.

A bone deep ache brings him to the surface of his consciousness. He’s warm, cold, and damp. Fever wracks his body and mind, and he can’t tell if he’s awake or dreaming.  
  
He thinks he remembers Oak changing his bandages, pressing a cool cloth to his fiery skin. A soothing balm to the inferno raging in his skin suit.  
  
Link had also wiped away his sweat, he figures. Large, warm hands passing a cool cloth over too tight skin. Or maybe that was a dream, especially with how swampy the blanket felt around him.  
  
Opening his eyes he looks straight into Smoky’s feline gaze. The cat is telling him something, communicating with only her eyes. His brain is too foggy to interpret cat right now.  
  
He closes his eyes and lets the sweet relief of darkness swallow him whole.

* * *

Rhett awakes with a sharp shout, pain lancing up his leg, lighting up all his flayed nerve endings. “Jesus-FUCK!” Another wave of hot agony washes over him, threatening his vision with spots of white. His stomach turning over threateningly.  
  
There’s the soft sound of someone’s voice. Rhett believes it could be chanting maybe, based on the cadence and timing of it. He just can’t hear it, over his own blood rushing loudly in his ears.  
  
Laying back down on the cool board beneath him, he pauses. A cool board? Wasn’t he just in bed, swaddled in blankets? The cat was trying to tell him something, Barbara a comfortable weight beside him.  
  
His eyes seemed to get with the program, roving over the curved roof above him. Yeah, this is not the guest room. Another dream maybe? Fever dreams were always wild.  
  
“Rhett?”  
  
Green and brown eyes hover over him, the rest of Oak’s features swimming in the low light. “Oak?”  
  
“Sorry about the pain. But we’re going to make you better, alright?” Her small hand brushed sweat damp curls from his forehead, fingers leaving icy trails he tried to desperately chase. His body felt too heavy to move, too laden with sickness.  
  
“We?” He could tell his eyes were unfocused and sliding away but he couldn’t control his focus.  
  
Oak just smiled, and the chanting voice grew in strength. A male voice. Something that sounded familiar, and not. He couldn’t reach into his brain to bring forth the information he desired. So he slumped more against the cool surface underneath him.  
  
A strong hand clamped over his ankle, and Rhett immediately tried to arch away from the burning sensation radiating from the foregin touch.  
  
Oak hushed him and placed her hands on either side of his face. Small thumbs rubbing soothing circles into his sweltering skin. “It’s going to be okay. We got you Rhett. We got you.”  
  
The blond still tried to squirm away from the pain. Nothing that felt like this could be good! Even when he was bit by Link it didn’t feel like this. It was like broken glass was being pressed into his leg slowly, repeatedly. Like all his skin was being drawn towards the hand and the man chanting words Rhett couldn’t seem to focus on, while Oak tried to murmur reassurances into his ear and skin. He felt tighter than a bowstring, that he was going to snap, shatter into a million pieces. That he was going to blink and be one with the ether.  
  
Ice soon trailed up from the overly warm hand. In fact, the large hand was  _ burning _ against his skin. But with the fever burning so brightly in his infected leg, he couldn’t tell if the hand was hot or cold. It would have to be cold with the ice tracing up his leg towards his knee, wouldn’t it?  
  
“No more. Please,” his voice came out a broken whisper.  
  
Oak shook her head. “You’re doing so well. It’s almost over. We’re going to make you better.”  
  
Rhett could feel a pressure against his mind? His brain? It was a bizarre feeling. Like someone was knocking on the door, but the feeling was contained to his head alone. “How do I answer the door?”  
  
The witch smiled, her teeth a flash of white in the dim light. “You just have to let me in. Just like that.”  
  
Rhett thought of a door and imagined him pulling the door open, the soft click of the latch letting go. The pain in his leg lessened, a warmth lulling him from inside. Not the burning intensity of a fever, but the warmth of being in his favorite sweater, curled on the couch with a cup of tea and Barbara on his lap.  
  
He could almost taste the tea on his lips when he heard a female voice cry out in pain. It sounded so far away, yet so close. Like he was being held underwater and the woman was above him.   
  
Wasn’t that such a coincidence? Wasn’t that what he had just been dreaming about? Oak held him down with her small hands while a mystery man chanted ominously in the background.  
  
He could feel a small smile twitch at his lips.  
  
“Sleep, Rhett.” And he allowed those words to push him over the edge into the abyss once more.

* * *

When his eyes peeled themselves open this time, he felt a little clearer. It felt like he had been asleep for a decade. He was stiff from not using his limbs, or from the constant aches the fever wracked his body with. It also felt like the sandman hadn’t just left him a little bit of dust in his eyes, but a whole ass desert.  
  
“How are you feeling?” Rhett turned to look at the witch in the doorway.  
  
Her long skirts flowed around her like a stream when she walked, and he was struck again by how much one person could somehow embody nature so wholly and naturally.  
  
“Mostly human. I think?” And wasn’t that the crux of this situation. Was this a short reprieve from the intense infection wreaking havoc on his frail human body, or was it finally clearing up?  
  
“That’s good. I was worried you might have some bruises from us hauling you up onto our altar.”  
  
Wait, what? “Pardon?”  
  
Oak chucked before brushing some hair off Rhett’s forehead. “What do you remember from last night?”  
  
Rhett frowned. “Last night? I remember being on something cold. You were telling me that you were going to help me feel better. I heard a man chanting, but I wasn't sure it was real. I also remember so much pain. It was like I was getting all my skin peeled off while being boiled alive and stabbed continuously.”  
  
Oak smoothed a hand over his arm, adjusting the blanket underneath him. “It was a lot of pain, wasn’t it? I’m sorry. I hadn’t realised how bad it was when I found you.”  
  
Something in her voice made him want to question how exactly she knew how much pain he had been in. “What was wrong with my leg?”  
  
Oak’s smile thinned and the light in her eyes dimmed. Shaking her head, she looked like she was waging war on herself, to tell him, or not.  
  
“Please, Oak.”  
  
“Its venom. Usually this particular venom induces rot, it's a way for the creature to,” she paused, biting her lip as though trying to find the right words, “to pre-digest its food.”  
  
“It, what?”  
  
“It eats rotten meat and flesh. They’re not a very common creature. It's an advanced level of magick that I’m sure you’d rather not hear about right now.”  
  
The silence in the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The sound of his own breathing grating in his ears. Swallowing, he cleared his throat, the sound unbearably loud. “So what did you and the other mage do? Is that what you call male magic wielders?”  
  
“He’s also a witch, but that’s besides the point I suppose. We drew out the venom and tried to repair the worst of the infection. It’s still not good. You still need to rest. But you’ll keep your leg.”  
  
She pulled out a small vial from her skirts and handed it to him. Inside the small glass container there was black liquid that reminded him of a bit of syrup with it’s thickness. On second glance it was an incredibly dark purple, and bubbling. “This is the venom?”  
  
“Yes. Not all of it, but it will react to its master.”  
  
Rhett stared at the small vial of death in his palm. “And when do I get to meet this male witch who helped you?”  
  
Oak’s smile crinkled the corners of her eyes. “You already have.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So bad news: I'm going camping next weekend, and I'm not sure when I'll have the chapter typed up and edited. We're leaving sometime on Friday and coming home on Sunday. I don't think we'll be there too late. One of my friends has work at 7am on Monday. Rip my broski. So worse comes to worse: this will be out late Sunday. I think you guys would prefer if I posted it early. So if I can I'll have it done for Friday morning so it can be posted in the afternoon before I leave.
> 
> As usual: tell me your thoughts in the comments or scream at me on [tumblr](https://chibitabathasloves.tumblr.com/)!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a mistake, listening to the playlist I'm to listen to while writing a new idea thing. I spent too much time cackling and not editing. This may be the worst self edit in a while. I'm sorry, but also I need to cry due to this song change. (Eiffel 65 to Seether is hilarious and a shock to the system.)

Link now sat in on Rhett’s daily doses of medicine. His brows constantly furrowed, arms crossed over his chest. Everything about his posture screamed about how closed off he was. And it was also reflected in how little he spoke to the blond.  
  
  
Sometimes, when Oak and Link entered the guest room together their heads would bend together and soft words would be exchanged. Every time Rhett tried to pay attention, he could feel his gaze being pulled away from the pair.  
  
“Why can’t I look at you two while you’re talking?” Caving he posed the question to the kind witch.  
  
“Because I’m deflecting your gaze. It's easy magick that can be cast without words. Nosy humans tend to have shorter life spans. Or is your leg not a lesson learnt?” Her smile was soft and friendly, but something else made Rhett feel like he was being warned to stop sticking his nose into their business.   
  
“Can anyone do magic?” He was hoping that by changing the subject, maybe he could suss out the male witch.  
  
“Yes and no. Anyone can perform the spells and rituals really. But some, more than others, have a better aptitude for magick. So you could maybe try to heal your leg itself, but it may not work as well for you as it would me. I’m not even the best at healing to begin with.”  
  
“Would the other witch be able to heal my leg better?”  
  
Link’s posture seemed to change, but when Rhett’s gaze shifted to the wendigo, he was in the same position he’d been in previously. Maybe he shifted his leg.  
  
“Probably not. But only because he already uses lots of magick, as is. He’s far better at what one might call potions. Since they rarely need more than a small chant and some intent.”  
  
Oak’s hands were warm as they pressed into the skin just above Rhett’s knee. She told him previously that she wouldn’t be able to heal his leg in one shot, or be able to work on it every day. Even still, as power poured from her small frame into his, he could feel the muscle jumping under her palm and the wound itched and pulled tight.  
  
When her hand withdrew, she wobbled slightly. Link gently grasping her shoulders, letting her lean against him. His voice was a low rumble, “You’re pushing yourself too hard.”  
  
Oak just smiled, patting her friend’s hand. “Nothing a nap won’t take care of.”

* * *

Rhett woke slightly, it felt like he was buried under layers upon layers of cotton and water. He could tell someone was in the room, but not who. When his eyelids fluttered open, something seemed to draw them shut again.  
  
A large warm hand pressed against the same spot Oak’s had earlier. This time when the power flowed into his body it felt like he was a lightbulb, like if he could open his eyes, he would see the power glowing through him like some sort of nightmarish night light.  
  
Along with the odd light he was sure he glowed with, he could feel that same pressure against his mind. Someone behind the door. Rhett wondered what it would be like if he didn’t open the door, what would happen to his mind if he left the door shut. Then he let go of that thought, and turned the doorknob in his mind.  


* * *

The same odd cotton feeling was wrapped around him, but not the water feeling. His eyes would not open on their own. Nor could his body thrash as he struggled against whatever paralysis he was under. His panic burned down to a slow simmer when he heard familiar voices.  
  
“He views his own mind like a threshold with a door Oak. That’s not normal!”  
  
“Just because you had no natural defences doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t.”  
  
“If your grandmother could hear you…”  
  
“If my grandmother was here, she’d have hit you with her broom until you got your shit together.”  
  
“What?!”  
  
“You heard me. You haven't told him about yourself at all. Still. What are you waiting for? An open invitation? A gilded invite, hand penned by the pope?” An aggravated sigh. “You don’t have the energy to spare healing him like that. Let alone rooting around in his mind like that.”  
  
“He mentioned the person from town. I wanted to know who so I could check them out.”  
  
“Link, you cannot go on your own. Promise me you won’t. I’ll send some folk from the coven.”  
  
“Tch. Fine.”  
  
He could hear the door close behind mild stomping.  
  
“I’m sorry I had to trick him into giving you some of the truth. But you need to sleep now.”  
  
The cotton feeling washed away into warm darkness.

* * *

When he woke this time, it was like emerging into clear waters. Every sound and feeling assaulted him all in one go. The best part was the lack of the deep seated ache in his leg.  
  
“Good morning Rhett, Barbara. Breakfast?”  
  
His faithful dog leapt off the bed, he could hear her nails clattering along the wood flooring.  
  
“Yes please.” He finally answered while propping himself up.  
  
“Excellent.” The witch placed one of the breakfast in bed tables across his lap. “We’re taking your medicine early today. So we modified it a little.”  
  
Rhett’s nose wrinkled. He did not like the sludge he’d been drinking the past few days. But this mug was filled with a suspiciously clear liquid, a golden amber that reminded him of tea. “Is it mixed into my omelete?” He eyes the rolled egg suspiciously.  
  
Oak laughed, covering her mouth with her hands. Rubbing at her eyes, she slowly caught her breath. “Gods no. Just the tea now. Once you’re all finished, we’re going to change your bandages, then you’re going to be babysitting Link for me!”  
  
The unadulterated joy that was written all over her face made the human uncomfortable. “I’m to what now?”  
  
“Babysit Link. I can’t trust him not to run off unless he’s looking after you.”  
  
Rhett frowned, but nodded before taking a sip of the tea. Bitter liquid flooded his mouth, coating his tongue. He could feel that his face was twisted in disgust.  
  
“I know, it’s not the most pleasant concoction. But I assure you, it will help with the swelling and the pain before we can get you settled at Link’s cabin.”  
  
Rhett dropped his fork, egg exploding across the plate. “What?”  
  
The witch just smiled at him sweetly. “Your cabin isn't safe anymore, remember? So Link agreed to look after you in his home.”  
  
Rhett groaned, letting his head fall back with a thump against the wall behind him. “First you trick him into revealing that he’s the male witch. Which leaves me with more questions than answers. Now you’re telling me we have to live together for who knows how long. By ourselves.”  
  
“Yes. You still owe me for the price of the protection spell. I’m going to give you another, do you want me to ask you for a different payment? I gave you a head start, you’d throw that away? If you do, you won’t like the new price I name.”  
  
Rhett swallowed around the hard lump in his throat. “No, the payment originally agreed upon is fine.” He did not want to have to give her anything material, he was worried it might be a hand or a foot. He’d go down in a blazing glory if she asked for Barbara.  
  
“Good, enjoy your breakfast then. We’ll change your dressings and you two will be on your way. A change in scenery will be good for you both.”  
  
Rhett could only hope she was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who wants to pay the price to have their questions answered? I take less steep payment than Oak. I can be bribed with Doritos, candy, and praise. 
> 
> Reach me on [tumblr](https://chibitabathasloves.tumblr.com/)!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update? On not Saturday? Yes. You know why? Because I finished writing Good Mythical Mute and felt the need to give you guys something extra, especially after last week. Was it last week? I don't even know anymore. Time is a construct and I don't understand it.
> 
> Also it technically only took my 45 minutes to write this all. And then I took 15 min to edit it. So if it's not great editing wise, that's why.

Where Rhett’s cabin, and presumably Oak’s hut, were a single floor, Link’s cabin had a whole second floor. Rhett was dropped off in a guest bedroom, with explicit orders to stay put. Only get out of bed to use the attached bathroom, and to wait for Link to bring him medicine and food.  
  
Rhett wanted to die after the first twelve hours. He would gladly kill a man for a book. Barbara was allowed to leave the room, the door left open wide for her to come and go as she needed. She hopped up onto the bed next to Rhett, curling up under his arm for cuddles and love. “Must be nice to get up and wander around huh? It’s late though. So he’s probably out now, huh?”  
  
Rhett looked out the window, into the dark sky littered with stars. He’d pay money to be able to sit outside and look at the stars, count them as his breath puffs out into the chill air.  
  
Soft footsteps crunched in the snow outside, and Rhett blinked as the grey, skeletal version of Link stalked past the window. “Huh, what’s that about I wonder.”  
  
He hadn’t seen the more monstrous looking form of the wendigo in a while. He had been hoping that if he was well fed, that he wouldn’t look as if he was a week away from fading away.  
  
Barbara huffed, and Rhett settled into his pillows for more rest.

* * *

“Breakfast.” Link walked in the open bedroom door, carrying a tray with a bowl and a mug, both steaming.  
  
Rhett wrinkled his nose at the bowl of oatmeal, and the cup of hot sludge. “At least when I was drinking this for my arm, it was cool.”  
  
“It’s not the same, although it probably has the same soul crushing brown color.” Link pushed the mug towards him. “Drink up.”  
  
Rhett sighed and grasped the mug firmly before taking a tentative sip of the alarmingly thick liquid. It wasn’t nearly as bitter, but it was oddly sour and salty, as if he had taken a lemon, cut it in half rubbed it in salt, and taken a huge bite of it. It wasn’t as bad as when it was so bitter it’d coat his teeth and throat.   
  
“This is only mildly better.”  
  
“Good.”  
  
Silence stretched between them as Rhett spooned bland oatmeal into his mouth and chased it with sips of his gross medicine. Link refused to look at him, or Barbara, not even acknowledging his four-legged guest when she sauntered by him.  
  
“I have some questions.” Rhett wasn’t sure he’d get answers. Or if any of the questions he was about to ask would be the price owed to the witch, but it was worth a shot.  
  
“She named knowledge as her price, huh? Fine, I’ll answer some of them, but not all of them.” Link turned his bright blue gaze towards the blond, eyes flashing slightly.  
  
“Why aren’t you like a normal wendigo? When I looked them up, they said they were large, gaunt, skeletal creatures that ate human flesh. Cursed to starve until they die, all for the sin of eating another person. But you’re mostly human looking. Why?”  
  
Link sighed, before running a hand through his hair. “I’ve been around for a long time Rhett. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Witch Trials.”  
  
“That happened hundreds of years ago, there’s no way…” he felt his voice trail off as he stared at the creature before him. He couldn’t be more than 300 years old. There was no feasible way.  
  
“I was wrongly accused of witchcraft. Funny how things turned out really. I was to be hung. I was lucky to be blindfolded. Some had old sacks over their heads. I was marched to the center of town, chained up as if I would somehow escape. It was raining that day. I remember it because I couldn’t tell if the water on my face was from tears, or from the rain.”  
  
Link paused for a moment, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, hand smoothing over the blanket. “Suddenly, it felt like the heat of a warm summer day, the biting cold washing away. I thought they had changed their minds, and were going to burn me at the stake instead. I cursed them, that I might haunt them until the day they die, and for the eternity that follows that. Then I heard the screams. Anguish calling out into the night. I wasn’t sure what was happening until my restraints loosened and fell away. Someone brushed a hand through my hair, hushing me as rain continued to pelt me, and somehow it was so warm still. I moved my hands to my blindfold, but the hand stopped me. Told me it was better if I could not see.”  
  
“They took me away from that town. And when I asked, they said ‘The dead can’t testify.’ I never understood why they said that, at least until it was too late.” Link’s hand gently moved to Rhett’s ankle gently skimming fingers over the fabric covered appendage. “They taught me magic. Told me I was a gift, that it would be a shame to lose it to the arrogance of humans.” Fingers balled into angry fists. “They’re the one who cursed me, fed me human flesh until I began to turn. I grew hungrier by the day. I lost weight no matter how much I ate. I used to chew on my nails, until I chewed off a piece of my fingertip.” Link held out his hand, and although faint, a small scar followed the line of his index finger’s nail bed.   
  
“They were using me as an experiment. For what? I’ll never know. I killed my mentor, fed on their flesh, and then burned down the only place I could call home at the time.”  
  
Rhett wanted to reach over and take Link’s hand, but he wasn’t sure how the wendigo would take it.  
  
“I managed to be able to keep my appearance mostly human during the day. Except for when I got too hungry to think straight. I managed to make it all the way here. It was quiet. Not many people around. Even if I got so hungry that I would prowl the forest until I could find a decent meal, I wouldn’t end up killing and eating a whole township.”  
  
Link’s brow furrowed. “I met Oak’s grandmother. She recognized what I was immediately. She also had many questions. But by that time I was already half-feral, living in the woods for hundreds of years does that to a person I guess. But I never thought that much time had passed. Oak’s grandmother, Sage, was still young. A child in the blip of time. She wanted to help me. I could never figure out why. She helped me set up an alias for myself, and how to be a ghost writer. She told me she wouldn’t help me pay my way as I re-entered society.”  
  
“Flash forward to Oak, I guess. She was determined to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps. She was going to be the one to break the curse. All it did was mess up my system a bit. I can sometimes get away with eating raw meat for a while. It makes the hunger pains go away. But when I eat a person, I feel full, and it fills me with energy. I used to be scrawnier, I was a typical wendigo, skeletal and starving. I just had a convenient skin suit to hide behind.”  
  
Link patted Rhett’s leg. “I don’t know if that answered anything for you. But I’m feeling pretty drained.”  
  
Rhett managed to mutter, “Thank you, rest well,” before Link left him alone in the guest room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, did that answer any of your burning questions? Do you have more? I wonder, I wonder.
> 
> Yell at me below or over on my [tumtum](https://chibitabathasloves.tumblr.com/).


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank my enabler: soho-x. She's the one who made sure this got done in a reasonable amount of time.
> 
> Did I edit it? Kind of. Oh well.

Rhett awoke to the sounds of scratching against the walls and the soft rattle of glass skittering across the floor. Barbara was curled up beside him, sleep warm and quiet, small huffs as her leg twitches in her sleep.   
  
He thought nothing of the sounds and fell back asleep.

* * *

He should have put more thought into the sounds he was hearing the night previous. The small glass vial Oak left in his care, to help her and Link find the creature, was laying underneath the window of his room. It would have fallen off the nightstand and rolled all the way over the room to tap up against the wall. Trying to get back to whatever was out there.  
  
The tall man didn’t open the window, and he didn’t move the small vial. Link needed to see it.

* * *

“So, you’re saying you woke up to the sound of scratching and the sound of the glass hitting the wall repeatedly?” Link frowned as he picked up the glass bottle.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“And you want me to go outside and check the side of my cabin for marks?”  
  
“Well, it could be what took the chunk out of my leg, right? Don’t you want to see what kind of damage it did to your house?”  
  
“I would be surprised if anything actually got through the defenses and wards in place around the building actually.” Link pulled out a short length of twine, expertly wrapping it around the small glass container and lid. When his hands stopped moving, it was fashioned into a necklace.  
  
“What does that mean?” He ducked his head as the wendigo looped the twine over his head.  
  
“It means that there’s a finger-waving magic barrier around the house. Along with the many different wards Sage and I cast years ago, and have refreshed with Oak since. There’s a talisman buried under the soil. A Witch’s Jar. It’s gross, and I hated making it, but it’s one of the strongest protective charms there is.” Link’s hands fiddled with the twine around Rhett’s neck before he smoothed them over the thin cord. “There.”  
  
“A Witch’s Jar?” Rhett gently reached up to fiddle with the small glass container hung around his neck. “This won’t choke me?”  
  
“Considering it fell from the nightstand and didn’t fly right out the window, no, it won’t choke you.” Link sighed and looked out the window into the woods beyond. “A Witch’s Jar is a jar filled with broken glass, nails, screws, sharp pieces of wood, urine, a few drops of blood, water, and several plants, like nightshade. It’s supposed to drive off those who would wish you physical harm.”  
  
Rhett wrinkled his nose, “Urine and blood? What the fuck?”  
  
Link laughed a little, “Yeah, it’s my blood though. I didn’t bleed anyone out for it. And I forget why the urine, it’s been an age and a half since I buried the jar.”  
  
“You’re right, that is gross.”

* * *

Link had gone out to check the property, and came back with a look that Rhett could only describe as ‘barely simmering rage’. “Fucker broke through half the wards and almost dug up the jar.”  
  
Rhett blinked several times, “What?”  
  
Link shook his head, running a hand through his hair harshly. “You can’t leave the cabin, okay?”  
  
“I wasn’t going to,” Rhett’s eyes followed the other man as he paced back and forth before continuing, “what’s going on Link?”  
  
“You didn’t look out the window right?” At the blond’s soft nod, the dark haired man continued, “ There were chunks of it all over the yard. It let itself get hurt to forcibly break through the wards. And then it was aiming to dig up the Jar, but something stopped it, or it was too hurt to continue on.”  
  
Link’s blue eyes flashed. “Keep Oak’s charm with you. I’ll let her know what’s going on. Don’t you dare leave. No matter what happens tonight.”

* * *

The last thing Link had said to him was haunting him. What did that mean, no matter what happens?  
  
Barbara was also nowhere to be seen, and Rhett wasn't sure if he was thankful she found a safe spot to hide, or upset that he couldn’t run one of his sweaty hands through her white fur to help calm him down.  
  
_ “Rhett.”  
  
_ Rhett jumped at the sound of his name whispering to him in the dark. It sounded an awful lot like Link’s voice. The twine around his neck shifted slightly.  
  
“Link?”  
  
_ “Rhett, I need you to come out here a moment.”  
  
_ Rhett frowned, hadn’t the wendigo told him to stay inside no matter what? A chill traced his spine and wrapped around his ribs, squeezing softly. “Why?”  
  
_ “It’s safe Rhett. Oak and I want to show you something.”  
  
_ Rhett shifted his legs off the bed, and a sharp prick along his neck made him stop for a moment. The vial had shifted, and was pulling slightly away from his chest. Whatever was outside, was trying to draw him out there.  
  
“You know what Link? I’m pretty tired. So I’m going to go to sleep. Okay?” 

The silence that followed echoed in his ears, or maybe that was the gentle whooshing of his blood in his ears. An ear shattering shriek pierced the silence and kicked the blond’s heart into overdrive as he shifted away from the window.  
  
The light outside the window shifted, a cloud slipping past the moon to allow her light to illuminate the hulking creature beyond the glass. Green-grey skin was stretched over an unusually bulbous head, mouth an ungodly red slash across sickly skin. Yellowed teeth glinting in the low light, black dripping from the open maw. Where he was expecting eyes to be, he could only see the shine of the moonlight, instead it lifted a hand up, a single red-yellow eye embedded in the palm, rolling around before fixating on him with another terrifying screech.  
  
Rhett tumbled backwards out of bed, his head hitting the bedside table. Sharp pain faded to grey, to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Creepy creature in the night, spooking your loved ones, giving you a fright!
> 
> What did you think? Pretty exciting huh? I hope Rhett is okay. Haha.
> 
> Yell at me if you want. The cliffhanger was too good to ignore! Do it below, or on [tumblr](https://chibitabathasloves.tumblr.com/)!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I forget what day of the week it was? Yes. Did I forget the date and the submission time for a different project? Yes.
> 
> Have I written too many words to make up for that? Maybe. Is almost 6k in less than 24 hours too much?
> 
> Anyways! ONWARDS TO THE STORY

Rhett slowly woke with a dull throb in the back of his head. Fuck that hurt. What happened?  
  
A hand carded through his hair even as the arm around him slowly tightened. Arm around him?  
  
“Stop squirming. I’ve got you. You’re safe,” Link’s voice rumbled in his ear.  
  
“S-afe?” his voice broke through the word.  
  
“It’s gone. I’ve got you. Go back to sleep.” The arm around him squeezed gently, the fingers biting into his side slightly. The hand in his hair, tilting his head to rest along Link’s shoulder.  
  
The dull throb in the back of his head ebbed away.

* * *

He woke up on a couch in the middle of the living room. He shot up from the cushions, “Barbara?”  
  
Soft skittering, then the soft white ball of fur launched up into his lap. “Oh, thank god you’re okay.” He wrapped his baby up in his arms.  
  
“Yeah, she had the sense to leave. I’m surprised you didn’t fall for its tricks.” Link stood leaning on the wall to the hall where his temporary room had been.  
  
“You told me to stay inside no matter what. I don’t really remember, but I think it wanted me to come outside? And then I don’t remember what happened. I remember seeing something sickly gray. Then it got dark. My memory is a little fuzzy.” His hand moved to rub the back of his neck, his pinky finger brushing a tender spot on his scalp making him hiss. “Ow.”  
  
“Yeah, you fell and hit your head. Do you remember after that?” Link’s blue eyes shifted over him, scrutinizing with every sweep.  
  
“I think, I remember being held? I don’t know.”  
  
Link just hummed before pushing off the wall. “That’s fine then.” We’re going to get some fruit in you, then Oak and I are going to figure this bullshit out. Once and for all. If I have to kill every old woman in a 50 kilometer radius of here, I will.”  
  
Rhett frowned after his host. It couldn’t be that easy to lift whatever plagued his land. “Were you the one leaving dead animals on my porch and in my truck?”  
  
Link’s icy gaze was turned to him, “Of course. Had to protect myself. Can never be too sure if someone’s out to get me, and if they’re a witch or not.”  
  
Rhett nodded slightly, “Okay. I just wasn’t sure if that was relevant to you, or to whatever that thing was. Does it have a name?”  
  
“I call them Grave Crawlers. But I don’t know their actual names. That would be something for Oak to answer. Typically they don’t leave graveyards unless forced into indentured servitude. So for one to be hunting you so intensely, I’m not even sure if we’re dealing with the ones I’ve seen.”  
  
Rhett wondered why he’d know about some weird monster that only eats rotting corpses. Then the blond slowly realized Link had to dispose of any body parts he doesn’t eat. Bones. Clothes. Personal possessions. Do wendigos and grave crawlers have some sort of weird symbiosis? Does one dig up holes for the other to fill?  
  
“There could be other kinds?” Is the question he comes out with.  
  
“Well I don’t know what brings them into existence. But I don’t see why not.” The wendigo brought over a tray of neatly cut fruits, with a side of lightly buttered toast.  
  
“What’s all this then?”  
  
“You hit your head, and I can’t be too sure you don’t have a concussion. That you won’t puke with anything heavier in your system. Eat up, then we’re taking a trip.”  
  
Rhett nodded before slowly beginning to pick at the food that had been placed in front of him.

* * *

Rhett was bundled up once more. “So what happened after I blacked out?”  
  
“Nothing.” Link pulled on the laces of his boots fairly roughly before tying them  
  
“Oh, okay.”  
  
Rhett closed his mouth with a soft click. Was there no way to get the man in front of him to open up?  
  
When Link led them back into the frozen wilderness, Rhett felt the compulsion to not look around. A spell. He pushed against the strong suggestion. He  _ wanted _ to look around. He was  _ going _ to look around.  
  
Like the strings on a puppet being cut, Rhett’s head suddenly felt looser, like his neck was rubber and no longer flesh and bone. His head whipped to the side of the house he remembered the creature being.   
  
Deep gouges in the snow marked a tussle of some kind. Clumps of frozen dirt and grass strewn about everywhere. The lid of a jar laying innocuously under a shattered window.  
  
“The Witch’s Jar…”  
  
Link’s spine went ramrod straight. “You weren’t supposed to look.”  
  
“It got in, didn’t it?”  
  
“No. Keep moving and stop rubbernecking.”

* * *

The familiar sight of his beat up cabin shouldn’t have filled him with dread. Nor should the odd wooden pillars erected all around the perimeter of his property. “What are these?”  
  
“Wards.”  
  
He jumped out of his skin even as the familiar voice of the witch echoed behind him. “We’re going to capture it and eliminate it. It seems to be the easiest way to clear your land of its ‘curse’.”  
  
He watched as the woman padded barefoot in the snow, skirts pulled up in her hand as she trailed over to the two men. She had to have been cold; Wearing nothing but her flowing skirt and blouse, a cloak that made him think of wolves in the snow draped around her shoulders.  
  
“You’re using him as bait?” Link snarled while motioning to the nearest wooden beam.  
  
Rhett reached out to touch the wood, it was warm under his gloved hand. A slight vibration making him even more curious. “What are these?”  
  
“They let you in, but won’t let you out. She tricked us.” Link’s eyes seemed to burn into the witch, his irises getting brighter and brighter.  
  
Oak only looked saddened by Link’s obvious hurt. “Do you really think so little of me that I would let an Itheoir Lobhadh near him? After all we’ve done. Without the payment I asked for.” Green and brown flicked over to Rhett where he fidgeted.  
  
“I asked. Like you said.”  
  
She shook her head. “The truth is still hidden from you yet. Come. Let’s get you settled for the day. Hm?”  
  
She brushed past the snarling wendigo and gently pulled at the blond’s arm.  
  
“Okay?” He looked between the two magical beings and frowned. Was he missing something?  
  
As he stepped up to his home he saw something mildly more alarming then whatever had Link on edge. “Is that blood?”  
  
All around the front of his house, symbols and what may be words were painted onto the wood in what suspiciously looked like blood. Like the time Link wrote his name on his home.  
  
“Just a touch. It’ll wash out I promise. But it will keep you safe. Unlike what Link thinks I am doing.”  
  
Speaking of the wendigo, he also noticed the blood symbols on the house, and was inspecting them closely.  
  
“Now come, come! Play me a song whilst I make you lunch. Please?”  
  
“Uh, yeah sure.” Rhett followed the woman into his surprisingly warm cabin while leaving the wendigo to inspect her work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! The plot thickens. Have I forgotten plot points I may have wanted to explore? Probably. Have I come up with new ones instead? Most definitely. 
> 
> Are you having a good time? Let me know! Down below or on [tumblr](https://chibitabathasloves.tumblr.com/)!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this a little late even if I have had it since like... last sunday? A bit. But life's been weird today. 
> 
> So:   
> Happy birthday to my dad! He's having pizza to celebrate and that sounds fantastic to me.  
> To my mother: Please stop being a cranky pain in the neck. Jesus.
> 
> ONWARDS TO THE STORY

Link sat on his couch, watching the flame flicker, cup of tea in hand.  
  
“Are you okay?” Rhett was glad when the other man finally came inside, but he wasn’t sure if the other man was okay or not.  
  
“I won’t be until this is over.” Link’s eyes narrowed on the flames, refusing to look at the human seated near him, or to look at the woman bustling about in his kitchen.  
  
“But you checked it yourself right? The wards are good. So why are you still so angry?” Rhett reached out to gently touch Link’s knee.  
  
Before his hand could make contact, his wrist was snatched up in a painful grip. “Why are you so calm about being living bait? You saw what it did to my place. Those wards were older than you.”  
  
Rhett blinked, why was he so calm? He tilted his head in thought, even as Link’s grip tightened. He didn’t feel the odd compulsion like he did at Link’s cabin, so it wasn’t a spell, was it? Were strong witches better at different spells? It was beginning to be a bit much, even for Rhett. “Because you two will keep me safe. That’s why.”  
  
“She’s avoiding me, too. Because I’m mad for putting you in harm's way. There’s no good reason for it.”  
  
Rhett gently laid his hand atop Link’s bruising grip, easing the tension in the other’s limb. “”It followed me to your home. Broke all of the wards. Broke into your house. Whatever is after me, it’s not going to give up. So I think I’m okay with this oddly game-like final ‘battle’. You know?”  
  
Link snorted, “What a terrible reference.” He finally let go of the blond’s wrist, the skin already blooming purple. “I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you. I’m sorry.”  
  
“It’s fine Link. Why are you so angry anyways?” Rhett’s wrist ached, but he also missed the weight of the other’s grip. Monster fucker indeed.  
  
The dark haired man’s cheeks flushed and he tipped his head to hide his eyes behind his bangs. “It’s nothing. I just think it’s stupid.”  
  
Rhett nodded and let the wendigo stew in whatever thoughts were twisting through his head. He also had a bit to think about. Oak wanted her payment. But how would he ‘seek the truth with his own mouth’? Clearly it wasn’t questioning the wendigo was it?  
  
“How do you ‘seek with your mouth’?” he mused out loud.  
  
Link looked up at him, biting his lip in thought. “Couple of ways, depends on the rest of the statement. It could be asking someone for the answer, giving the answer whilst being unaware. Eating something, licking something, just generally putting something in your mouth or consuming it.”  
  
“Huh, interesting. So like, a kiss for instance?”  
  
Link hummed in agreement, “Yeah, it’s all pretty similar and vague. Usually the person who writes it down is expecting you to stumble around with it for a bit, either for a good laugh, or because they think it will help you out in the long run.”  
  
“Can I kiss you?”   
  
Both men stared at each other in shock; Rhett for letting the idle thought actually slip out, and Link probably due to the abruptness of the line of questioning.  
  
“What?” the wendigo rasped out.  
  
In for a penny, in for a pound. “I want to kiss you. Can I?”  
  
Link’s eyes narrowed sharply, “This isn’t because you think you’ll die, is it?”  
  
Rhett hadn’t really thought about it. Maybe he was under some kind of spell. He felt punch-drunk and maybe that was because he opened his mouth and inserted his foot into his throat, or maybe it was because of Oak doing weird mind magic.  
  
“No. I just want to kiss you.”   
  
Link leaned away for a moment, before heaving a sigh through his nose. Abandoning his mug of tea onto the coffee table in front of him, he turned towards Rhett once more. “Alright.”  
  
“Alright?” Rhett almost couldn’t believe his ears, heart drumming against his chest with excitement and apprehension. What was it going to be like kissing someone with magic? Kissing a wendigo? Kissing a magical wendigo?  
  
“Don’t make me regret this.” Link grimaced before reaching over to Rhett, pulling on his hand. They came together, leaning over the space between the furniture, a chaste brush of winter bitten lips against petal soft skin.  
  
Electricity shot through the blond at the contact and he wanted more. Needed more.  
  
“Link, I-” he started.  
  
“We shouldn’t Rhett,” the other cut him off.  
  
“Why not?” the blond tried to chase after the phantom brush of lips against his.  
  
“A love like mine is cursed. I can’t,” Link pushed Rhett back into his seat, “I’m sorry.” He stood from his seat and walked out the door of the cabin, the latch soundless under the sound of his heart breaking.  
  
Rhett wasn't sure how long he sat there, staring at the abandoned mug. It may have been seconds, maybe even days. Time was a human construct. Time was something that Link had too much of, and Rhett too little.  
  
Of course the wendigo wouldn’t want to love a soft human. They wilt away and wither in the blink of an eye under his cursed immortality.   
  
It still didn’t stop his heart from aching, nor did it stop the tears that flowed from his eyes like the rain water into the lake just outside.  
  
The door clicked open, the witch standing in his doorway, only her silhouette to be seen because of the raging fire behind her.  
  
“It is done.”  
  
“What?”  
  
Oak approached him and gently ran a small hand over his jaw, through his beard, “Oh sweet child. I bestow upon you the gift of dreamless sleep.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Once I’m done burning the bodies, you should try and sleep.”  
  
“Bodies?”  
  
Oak grimaced, “Yes, we drew out the witch responsible. She and the Itheoir Lobhadh are burning in your front yard right now. Did you not hear us fighting?”  
  
Rhett shook his head no, then panicked, what if Link was hurt? He shot out of his seat, smashing his shins against the coffee table, the sound of the mug shattering echoing behind him.  
  
His eyes gazed over the yard, black twisted shapes in the center of the fire made the shadows twist and writhe across his property, but there was no sign of the wendigo.  
  
“Link?”  
  
A small hand rested on the back of his arm. “He left already.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops. Did I accidentally add too much angst? Who knows. I'm evil and you can't stop me!
> 
> Come yell at me in the comments or on [tumblr](https://chibitabathasloves.tumblr.com/)!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Did I put in a thing for the amount of chapters? Yes.
> 
> I'm currently working with bilateral tennis elbow. But I managed to write this while cat-sitting my partners kittens. They are very demanding. They have destroyed the living room while I typed this. But other than writing the scene that's giving us the E rating, the last chapter is pretty much written. I straight up have the first part, and the closing part sandwiching "(Sex Scene)" in the doc. I actually turned on my laptop and saw that and I started laughing so hard I cried a bit.
> 
> Anyways. How many of you remember the actual price Rhett owed to Oak?

Had dreamless sleep been a gift or a curse, Rhett wasn’t too sure. He could still taste charred flesh in the back of his throat when he woke. Still feel the press of soft lips against his.  
  
His mind was still in shambles over what had happened a week ago. Had it only been a week?  
  
His gaze drifted over the coffee table to the small desk calendar he moved a handful of days ago. Little x’s crossing out the last six days. Reaching blindly for the table he groped around until he knocked his second last coffee mug to the floor with a bang, fingers wrapping around the sharpie. He crossed out one more day. Seven days, a week, since he’d seen Link.  
  
He pulled himself up off the couch, his back twinging in protest. It may not have been the smartest idea to move onto his couch. But he wanted to be closer to the door, just in case.  
  
He picked up his mug and checked for any cracks. If he broke this one, he’d have to go into town and buy a new set. The mug Link had used, the mug his mind supplied was Link’s in every way shape and form, sat in the cabinet by itself. A small box beside his trashcan held the remains of every other mug he had broken over the last several days.  
  
He missed Link, the easy friendship they mostly had. Or that he told himself they had. The relationship that he shattered by asking for a kiss. Seeking the truth with his mouth or whatever. His heart clenched, and his vision swam with tears. God he missed Link.  
  
His mug shattered against the floor, followed by the soft drip of tears.

* * *

He sat in his pickup for a while. Just watching the town move around. It was February, and wasn’t that a wild thing to know. His first winter in Canada, almost over depending on what a small brown rodent had to say.  
  
The blond startled and slammed his elbow into the steering wheel when he watched Oak breeze past the street he was parked along. “Fuck!” he hissed, fighting with his seatbelt and the door.   
  
He ran after the witch, his boots sliding through snow and muck. “Wait!” He called out, “Wait up!”  
  
Oak paused and turned to look at him, a small frown crinkling her brow. “Yes, my child?”  
  
Rhett also frowned at her, before she offered him a small half smile and a half shrug. “I-”  
  
Oak held up a hand, stopping Rhett’s words before he could start. “Escort me?”  
  
Rhett nodded, holding his arm so she could take it. Small hands clutched at his arm, leading him down the street.  
  
“You miss him?”  
  
Rhett felt his heart shudder in his chest, the tears threatening his vision again. “Yes.”  
  
“Did you seek out the truth?”  
  
Rhett paused, wasn’t he supposed to seek the truth with his own mouth?  
  
Oak snorted under her breath, a small huff as she tried not to smile. “No, I told you to seek out the truth yourself. I recommended you use that mouth of yours to start. You were supposed to ask questions. But I suppose that worked out in your favor and against it all at once. He ran away, didn’t he?”  
  
Rhett wasn’t even going to be mad that she was looking into his head right now. If she could sort out his thoughts better than he could, all the better for him he supposes. He nodded.  
  
“And you love him, do you? Despite his affliction?”  
  
Another sharp nod. He did, he loved Link. Could he tell her when it started? Of course not. His love bloomed under the oddest circumstances, in the dead of winter, with a creature who by all means could skin him alive and eat his flesh.  
  
Another snort. “Alright then, tonight my coven is ushering in spring, in the woods by the lake behind your property. You’re welcome to come watch. Some of the townsfolk also come by. They believe in us more than they do Old Creeper.”  
  
“Old Creeper?”  
  
“Town’s groundhog, they’re going to name a new one soon. It’ll be for the best. The old guy won’t last another year.”  
  
Rhett nodded before letting the witch slide out of his grasp and into the town. At least he had something to look forward to later.

* * *

Rhett saw the smoke rising up from the lake, he bundled up in his winter gear before following Barbara out the door into the snow. They walked along the snowy beach, he couldn’t see any of the ice fishing huts, so maybe the season for it had passed already. Or maybe everyone knew of the creature in the woods, and just never bothered.   
  
A small group of people stood holding hands around the fire. Flowing dresses and robes flaring and fluttering as they danced and shifted around the fire. Their voices were a low harmonic murmur that wrapped around him and made him feel warm and safe.  
  
Rhett saw a few other people standing outside the ring of light, and he followed the silent guidelines they set. He didn’t step into the soft glow of light, and watched on silently.  
  
He watched the witches as they ushered in Spring. He didn’t understand their words, nor did he want to try. Eventually Oak’s voice cut through the soft hum of the others, her voice rising like a tide over the others. Then another voice joined in calling back to her over the others.  
  
Rhett’s eyes grew large as he zeroed in on the owner of the voice. Link stood there in a flowing blue robe, symbols stitched in silver and black on fabric that made him think of glacial waters and glowing eyes.  
  
Oak stood across from him, as they continued their back and forth over the fire, calling to each other, calling to the night, calling for spring.  
  
He managed to peel his eyes away long enough to look to Oak, her own robe in a deep amber with symbols stitched in gold and white. She was clearly leading the coven in whatever they were doing.  
  
When the back and forth died down, and the soft hush of voices returned, the group slowed their movements around the fire. Link spoke and the fire went out in the blink of an eye.  
  
When Rhett’s eyes adjusted to the dim light of the moon overhead, he spotted Oak and Link speaking together in front of the dregs of their fire. He shook his head, his eyes glowing softly. He must be hungry.  
  
Rhett mentally kicked himself. The man could take care of himself. He didn’t need a soft human fussing over him.  
  
Those glowing blue eyes latched on to him and his heart lodged up in his throat.  
  
“Rhett.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A cliff-hanger? Who woulda thought, huh?
> 
> Rhett, you've been doing your best honey. Oak, keep being your mysterious self. Link, don't run away.
> 
> See you next week? Or maybe earlier, who knows. :D (Certainly not me.)
> 
> Yell at me in the comments or over on [tumblr](https://chibitabathasloves.tumblr.com/)!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's late. But it's here. Maybe only speed edited. But it is, what it is.

He had followed Link back to his little cabin by the lake, his blue robes trailing in the snow behind him.  
  
He could feel his throat closing up with emotions he wasn’t sure he could handle. He managed to choke out, “Aren’t your feet cold?”  
  
A small huff, maybe a hint of a laugh. “No, I’m not cold. We’ll be there soon though. I can’t believe you didn’t bring a flashlight. Didn’t Oak tell you to bring one?”  
  
Rhett bit his lip, he had been pretty dumb to just wander out of his home alone, at night without a flash light. “She didn’t.”  
  
Another huff, this one sounding more like a sigh. “Of course she didn’t.”  
  
Silence fell over them as they crunched through the snow, Barbara bounding ahead of them.  
  
When Rhett opened up the door for Link to enter his home, Link shook his head no. “Just for a cup of tea. Nothing more.”  
  
Link sighed and walked up the steps and into the cabin.  
  
Rhett regretted it the moment blue eyes fell upon his nest on the couch. “Haven’t been sleeping well? I’m sure Oak has a tincture you could use to help.”  
  
“She already blessed me with dreamless sleep.”  
  
“I see.” Link looked so out of place as he began folding blankets and clearing off the table, he looked like one of the portrayals of a god of nature if anything. “Tea?”  
  
Rhett jolted slightly before scrambling towards the kitchen to make tea. He grabbed Link’s mug from the counter and one of his brand new mugs from the drying rack beside the sink. He brought the two mugs into the living room, where Link had Barbara up in his lap, petting through her fur and scratching gently behind her ears.  
  
“She missed you.”  
  
“Oh?”  
  
Rhett placed the wendigo’s mug down in front of him, before settling on the couch beside him. “Yeah, she always wanders by the edge of the forest, sits and waits for you until i call her in.  
  
“I see.”  
  
Link didn’t really talk while he sipped at his tea. Only running his hand along Barbara’s fur.  
  
“Link-”  
  
“Rhett, we spoke of this already. If you can’t let it go, I’ll pay the price to have Oak wipe your memory.”  
  
“I don’t think you could afford the price.” He doesn’t know why he said it, but he felt it in his bones that he was right. That Oak would ask for something so outrageous or impossible that Link just wouldn’t be able to manage.  
  
A small smile curled at Link’s lips before it slipped away. “And what about you, did you ever pay the witch’s price?”  
  
“I did. I only had to seek the truth and I know it now.”  
  
“What truth is that?”  
  
Rhett wanted to say it was about Link, his affliction, but it wasn’t. “The truth of my heart and yours. I love you, Link. And if the words you said to me last week were any indication, you love me too.”  
  
The wendigo sighed, putting his mug on the table. “Is that why you’re depressed Rhett? Because I left you after the kiss you asked for? Because I don’t want to give my heart to someone just to watch them wither away into nothing? Because you’re selfish?”  
  
Rhett ran a hand through his hair roughly. “I’d rather spend my life with you, learning about you and your world, maybe helping Oak break your curse, then pack up and move back to L.A.! I thought at first I was only curious. I was enamored with the unknown. But the more I learned about you the more my feelings grew too. I was just too dumb to notice it. For all I know true love is like this, it isn’t like some fairy tale where two people just stumble across each other and with no knowledge of the other person say, ‘Yes I love them!’ There’s still a lot I don’t know, but I would spend every moment learning about you if you’d let me.”  
  
When he looked over at Link, the wendigo was picking at his robe, looking mildly dejected. “It’s going to hurt to lose you.”  
  
“It already has.”  
  
Link snorted slightly. “You’re too smart to be a regular human, you know that?”  
  
Rhett laughed, the sound watery even to his own ears. “I think it’s the company I keep.”  
  
Link held out his hand, “Come here then.”  
  
Rhett walked over and pulled the wendigo up by his hand, wrapping his long arms around him, pressing a soft kiss to warm lips. “Thank you.”  
  
Another kiss, this one with a hint of teeth grazing over his lip. “Come.” Fingers pulled at his hand and led him towards Rhett’s bedroom.  
  
“You sure?”  
  
“Don’t make me regret agreeing to this.”  
  
They both paused in the doorway of the blond’s room before bursting into laughter.   
  
Their laughter tapered off, and they both smiled at each other. Link stepped back before pulling at the shoulders of his robe, the fabric slipping off his body like water. Rhett felt his heart gallop in his chest. The moonlight lighting up pale skin, showing off the glorious chest of hair in front of him. Muscles shifting in strong arms and strong thighs as he slipped from the last of the fabric. Oh fuck he wasn’t even wearing underwear! Rhett could feel his cheeks burning as he got an eyeful of a gloriously long shaft, the dusky skin of his balls.  
  
Rhett pulled his eyes away and stared at the ceiling. Counting to ten in his head. Link was already half-hard and Rhett needed to make sure he didn’t make a fool of himself by gaping.  
  
“You gonna make me wait?” The taller man startled, his glaze flicking back towards the other man, now sprawled over the bedsheets.  
  
Rhett couldn't take his eyes off the vision in front of him. Link ran his palms over his chest, petting over his abdomen. Fingers brushing lightly over his hard length. "Well?"  
  
Rhett cursed under his breath, fumbling the button of his jeans open, struggling to pull them down. Soft musical laughter made him pause in his struggling. Link was watching him with those unnaturally blue eyes, but the hunger he saw in their bright depths was different. It caused arousal to burn in his veins, making his dick twitch in his boxers. The wendigo rolled over slightly, laying on his side and patting the sheets invitingly. "Don't keep me waiting."  
  
Rhett begged every deity that Link would never tell Oak that he almost brained himself on his own bed frame.  
  
Long fingers brushed through his blond hair, "Just breathe," the dark haired man hushed.  
  
Rhett took a sharp breath in, holding it, before letting it out slowly. “Okay, okay.” He tugged his shirt and sweater over his head, pushing his pants and boxers off his legs with a few shoves. He smiled at the man who was leaning on the bed watching him shuck his clothes off finally. “Good?”  
  
“Perfect,” the wendigo purred, delicate fingers brushed through his beard.  
  
Rhett followed those hands, the gentle pull drawing him up onto flannel sheets. Those beautiful hand stroked over his own broad chest, over his shivering arms, across his sides, and down his back. Drawing him down into blue eyes, into a kiss tinged with a hint of copper. His tongue brushing over razor sharp teeth.  
  
  
“Mmm, sorry.”  
  
Rhett was entranced even as those blazing blue eyes were half lidded, and those lips dotted with crimson.  
  
He ran his tongue over his own bottom lip, the gentle sting from his tongue chased by more of that sharp iron taste. “It’s fine.”  
  
Link just manages to hum softly before an even softer smile crosses his lips, drawing Rhett down into a searing kiss. “Even if I devour you?”  
  
“‘S fine,” the words mumbled against soft lips  
  
“Promises, promises.” Link huffed a laugh, trailing kisses over his bearded jaw, breath tickling over his neck.  
  
The blond groaned deep in his chest, warm lips tracing over his pulse. The sharp drag of teeth sent a thrill down his spine like lightning, heat pooling in his groin. “Please.”  
  
“Please what, Rhett?”  
  
“Touch me.”  
  
Another soft laugh, long fingers dragging over his hip, gooseflesh chasing searching fingers.  
  
A hot point of touch traced over the length of his throbbing cock before Link fisted it. Drawing his hand up and down over the flesh of his sex, the taller man moaned. His own hands fumbled to trace over warm hips, fingers brushing over strong thighs. Drawing their pelvises together in a slow roll.  
  
A low moan was pressed into the skin of his neck, followed by the flicker of a blood hot tongue. Music to Rhett's ears. He wanted to draw all sorts of sounds out of the other man.  
  
The hand that had shifted from his dick to his hip shifted back. Wrapping his hand around both their lengths, stroking once, drawing their precome over them both. Rhett jerked his hips forward, pushing into the tight channel Link was creating with his fist.  
  
He could feel his orgasm rushing through his veins. "Please."  
  
A low groan, followed by the gentlest graze of sharp teeth. "Please."  
  
"It'll hurt. Don't want to hurt you anymore." The words were pressed against his throat, against his rabbit quick pulse.  
  
"Please, please, please."  
  
A sharp prick, followed by burning pain chased through his skin. A low moan escaped the pair of them, Link's muffled against his throat. Rhett's spend hot over both their cocks, the wendigo's hips rutting furiously through the mess. Adding to it after a few sharp thrusts.  
  
Fuck.  
  
Link hummed, "Yeah."  
  
So he didn't just think it to himself.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"It's fine." Link flopped on top of him, ignoring the mess.  
  
Rhett wrapped his arms around the smaller man, who snuggled into his chest with a soft hum.  
  
Warmth curled in his chest, leaching out from the man on top of him. “Love you.”  
  
“Love you, too, Rhett.”

* * *

Rhett could hear the campers from his open window.  
  
“Is your method fucking up? Cause you’re succeeding.”  
  
“Shut up, Sherri.”  
  
“Shut up, Colin.”  
  
“Stop fucking with me, and write about it instead.”  
  
Rhett grimaced, he was pretty sure Link was going to pick off one of them, and over hearing their names was going to leave a bad taste in his mouth later.  
  
That’s what he gets for opening up his land to campers he supposes.  
  
An endless trickle of campers who ‘get lost on the trails’ or ‘elope with their lovers’. He really hopes Link only takes one of the campers. A group of seven might be a bit much.

* * *

He took the budding author, she wandered off to the outhouse furthest away from their campsite. Between surveillance cameras. Her small flashlight clenched in the hands of worried friends. Rhett shook his head and told them they’d call in a ranger. But she may have been taken by a bear or even a wildcat in the night.  
  
Link just patted the one guy on the arm, “Colin, was it? We’ll do our best to find her.”  
  
Rhett could only shake his head at his boyfriend, what a morbid thing to do. His fingers brushed over the circular scar on his neck, he’d protect him, and help to make sure he was well fed with what little human means he had.  
  
Sorry, Canada.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Campers were me and my friends from when we went camping. Colin could not get the fire going, and me, the non-camper, was giving him shit for it. So he told me to stop fucking with him and write it instead. And in a way, I did. This is for you _buddy_.
> 
> Now if there are any burning plot holes I missed, any kind of worldbuilding you want me to go over, let me know! I've got it all tucked away and who knows. Maybe we'll see more of Link and his disaster human.
> 
> As usual, come yell at me below or on [tumblr](https://chibitabathasloves.tumblr.com/).


End file.
